Artwork 2015

November 2015One of the four showcases at the lobby gallery of SCSU. Here are four of the long exposures on aluminum panels. Also on display are a few of the pinhole cameras (on the pedestal). These simple cameras survived a year out in the woods capturing images on paper negatives.

October: My long exposure work on view at City Wide Open Studios Alternative Space Weekend - New Haven Armory 10/10-11/2015

May: After a very snowy winter, I went back to West Rock just as the tree buds were on the verge of cracking open--inflorescence emergence.

This time I took a different trail from the foot of the cliff side to see if I could spot any cameras that succumbed to weather and gravity. Alone in my thoughts. Solutions. Ideas. Thought about getting a metal detector. Thought about needle in a haystack. Thought about RFID tags.

I didn't see any at the base of the cliff or along the way so I decided to focus on the cameras that had stayed in place.

At the top I went off trail to find the cameras from last July. Found 19 of them, several were waterlogged.

Artwork 2014

July 6: Installed 30 cameras along West Rock Ridge.

Artwork 2013

The current project, Parallax, has been in the field since last summer. The pinhole cameras are up in the woods.

May, 2013 Update: Will install more pinhole cameras in a few weeks. Starting June 21, I'll be retrieving the pinhole cameras that have been up since last summer.

Artwork 2012

Parallax - revisited

A composite of photo negative and positive from pinhole cameras installed at The New Britain Museum of American Art, overlooking Walnut Hill Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The lines arching across the sky were made by the sun.

Handmade Pinhole Cameras

part of the 50 pinhole cameras I made for the solargraphy project:Parallax 2012-2013

Artwork 2011

November 12, 2011

The Library Science Project opens today. I modified the project a few times in the few months since the original proposal.

This is a shot of the work in progress. I'll take some pix of the final project later today

Proposed Art ProjectJuly 18, 2011

Solargraphy Project UpdateJuly 15, 2011

Artwork 2011Solargraphy Project Update

Hanging on the precipice, checking out the installed outdoor pinhole cameras in and around West Rock Ridge Park.I made these cameras out of 1 quart paint cans from the local big box hardware store, painted flat black inside and out.

Parallax: Solargraphy Project

Spray painting aluminum shims a flat black. These shims are about 1 1/2' x 2' pieces of soda cans. If you look closely you can see the pinholes I already drilled into them. These shims will be attached to the cameras using epoxy and tape. The flat black will prevent light reflecting inside the camera.

Designing, building, installing handmade pinhole cameras is only part of the process. Finding appropriate locations to install is another component. Working around inclement weather is also part of the mix. All of these are usually behind-the-scenes art-making production phases that are typically left out of the final product.

The Parallax Project includes this process. I'll be adding images, video, and text of some of these pre-production phases during the exposure period (five weeks and another set of three to six months)

Pinhole Camera Solargraphy Project Test

Solargraphy pinhole camera two week test, 2/26/2011

Well, the good news is the photo paper I plan to use for the project is fine. I scanned the paper and saw something, faint, but definitely something. I inverted the image, tweaked the saturation etc. and got a glimpse of something but all I can figure out is there's a window screen and some light. Good enough for me!

This two week test was just to make sure the paper could record something. So now, it's on to building the cameras, lining up locations with lots of open space, and getting them out into the field.

And no, the snow is not gone.

Pinhole Cameras / Solargraphy Project

Prototype Pinhole Camera is set up to capture this view. The two-week exposure test ends on Feb. 25. Maybe all the snow will be gone by then?

My next project is a multi-camera photography project. Starting on March 20 and running until the end of May, I will have two dozen handmade pinhole cameras out in the field, loaded with black and white photo paper, recording effects of the movement of the sun.

The research and legwork I'm doing now is taking some time, but it's necessary. I'm scouting locations to place my handmade pinhole cameras for ten weeks. The ideal locations have open space and an unobstructed view of the path,or part of the path, of the sun over the course of the day.

Solargraphy is a type of long exposure photography (months +) that results in a photograph that captured the path of the sun over many months. These photos are made with pinhole cameras outfitted with light sensitive photo paper (instead of film).

Articulated Bodies

I've displayed part of the Dress form cyanotype photogram series in an installation I did as part of the downtown Hartford CT empty storefront project 2009-2010.

Seven pieces (maybe a few more) will be on view at Gallery 46 in Rockville-Vernon, CT starting next week, January 11, running until February 5, 2011.

The opening reception is Saturday, January 15, 2011, form 6 - 9pm.

Although the storefront project gave me the opportunity to show the work in a different context, and be able to hang it in the middle of the space and backlight them, it also didn't allow for people to enter the building to get near the art work.

I'm planning to hang the work off the surface of the gallery walls and currently designing a way to light them from behind. I'm also designing a window installation, to include the metal dress form, and some ethereal lighting.

Artwork

Camera Obscura @ CWOS New Haven

My first time participating in City-Wide Open Studios New Haven was a great experience. I got to meet 100s of people and introduce them to my work. Students from the COOP Arts and Humanities Magnet High School visited in two groups for special private tours on Friday and Tuesday.

New Body of Work at City-Wide Open Studios New Haven: Inflorescence Emergence 2010

one of a series on view at 200 College Street, New Haven CTCity-Wide Open Studios Alternative SpaceSaturday and Sunday, October 9 & 10, 2010

Camera Obscura for City-Wide Open Studios New Haven

Here's a 3-D rendering animation I made of my proposed installation for CWOS.org Alternative Space at 200 College Street in New Haven. I'm one of 30+ artists in this building transforming a former office / retail building into art spaces for the third and final weekend of Open Studios. The Alternative Space, 196-212 College Street, New Haven CT, is open Saturday and Sunday, October 9 & 10, Noon - 5PM. Open Studio kick-off party at Artspace New Haven is Friday, September 24.

A new body of work in the making.

Cyanotypes on fabric, drying stage of process 9/10/2010

A new batch of small square format cyanotype photograms with botanical content. In my photograms, I try to capture recognizable forms and present them in a new way. I work without a camera to make the prints, placing objects directly onto the light sensitive surface of my material. After exposing to the sun for approximate 15 minutes, the object is removed and the material is rinsed in water, then air dried. The object's form and shadow forms are revealed.

This morning, I made a batch of 30 prints. Conditions weren't optimal, (sunny then cloudy, breezy then gusty), but about half of the prints are fairly decent. Lack of sun due to clouds cut back on the shadow forms. The wind knocked things around during exposure, but helped speed up the drying stage of the process.

Yes, they're decorative, but there's more to it than just pretty. The plants I used are Morning Glories culled from a vast tangled bunch I grew from seed. They really started to take off a couple of weeks ago. These are seeds I cultivated from previously planted Morning Glories.

The last photographs my dad took were of the Morning Glories on the back deck. He's been gone three years this week and it's still strange, that here but then not here. Liminal space isn't as uncomfortable as it once was. I'm not as concerned about figuring it all out right now. I have come to accept that nothing is the same, but it's OK.

I work on my art and then I see something new. I'm learning new things all the time. That's the best part of being an artist.